Band of cell phone thieves in Ozone Park area

From CBS2:

A Queens father is calling for action Saturday after his son was robbed of his cellphone as he walked home from school, and police say it’s part of a growing trend in the area.

“It is very, very important to get them off the street,” Anthony Pedraza told CBS2’s Dave Carlin in an exclusive interview.

Pedraza says his mission is to let other parents in Ozone Park, Queens know that cellphone thieves are brazenly finding their victims in the daytime and heartlessly picking on youngsters. The latest victim was his 12-year-old son, Greysen.

The seventh grader said the man who robbed him, along with three accomplices, confronted him Wednesday after school. Greysen had gotten off a city bus and was in a shopping center that fronts South Conduit Avenue.

The robbers made their move as he was walking on a dirt path to get to his house.

“I went to walk away and when I was crossing over the conduit, they came up to me and said they had a gun in a book bag and give me your phone,” he said.

They took his iPhone, and nothing else. Greysen tried the “find my phone” feature, but had no luck.

JFK workers busted for stealing from luggage

From CBS 2:

Seven John F. Kennedy International Airport baggage handlers were arrested Wednesday, on allegations that they stole out of travelers’ luggage.

As Dick Brennan reported, CBS2 got an exclusive look at the loot that baggage handlers were allegedly taking for themselves. The items included cellphones, iPads, laptops, jewelry and other items worth a grand total of more than $20,000.

The items were taken from travelers’ checked luggage between March 2012 and June 2014, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said Wednesday.

“The defendants have been caught red handed and will now face the consequences of their alleged illegal acts,” said Brown.

“The defendants — who were hired to handle the baggage of those traveling in and out of Kennedy Airport — are alleged to have stolen computers, cell phones and other items from checked luggage with many of them selling the pilfered items to a pawn shop or to a ‘fence’ who was actually an undercover police officer,” Brown said.

The suspects are identified as Khaleed Maynard, 28, Sheldon Theodore, 22, and Ryan Phillips, 35, who worked for Swissport at Terminal 4; Levi Miller, 47, Romero Hendricks, 30, and Tihafade Esdaile, 29, who were employed by Aircraft Services International Group at Terminal 4; and Keston Austin, 31, who worked for G.S.I. at Terminal 7.

Each of the suspects face grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property charges, Brown said.

Please hide your electronic devices

From the Wall Street Journal:

New York City became a much safer place in the past 12 years—unless you're the owner of an iPhone or iPad.

While the city saw dramatic decreases in most major crimes during the tenure of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, one category has remained nearly unchanged: grand larcenies.

One driving force, experts and police said, is thieves snatching cellphones and electronic devices—especially Apple AAPL +0.52% products. That type of crime is usually classified as grand larceny in the fourth degree, experts said.

Many of the thefts happen on public transportation, where most people are buried in their devices and aren't paying attention to their surroundings, said Joseph Giacalone, a retired New York Police Department detective. "It's easy pickings," he said.

The number of those crimes reported to police decreased about 1% when comparing 2002 figures to preliminary 2013 figures, according to data provided by the NYPD.

For those same years, which bookend Mr. Bloomberg's administration, murders decreased about 43%, robberies dropped about 30% and vehicular thefts decreased about 72%, according to the data. The number of grand larcenies has steadily increased each year since 2010, the data show.

Nationwide, grand larcenies are decreasing: There was a nearly 13% drop in the crime comparing 2002 and 2012 figures compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The trend in New York City is notable because it seemed to resist Messrs. Bloomberg's and Kelly's data-driven approach to crime reduction. A spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg pointed to past comments of the former mayor and NYPD officials saying that thefts of Apple devices play a major factor in the yearly number of grand larcenies.

Let's elect someone with a brain, please

From the Forum:

Less than a week after she was audibly fed answers by Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch during a press conference, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley was caught playing with her phone during a debate. Several different videos taken during the debate show extended periods of scrolling, eyes locked onto her phone screen, as her competitors engage in an interactive debate.

Her behavior was disrespectful and irresponsible.

An aide claimed she was merely taking notes, to assist in her replies during the debate. The only problem with that is, in order to take notes on a phone, one must type.

Not just scroll. Scrolling is really best for reading – perhaps reading notes and instructions being sent from one’s staff. And if one checks out any of the multiple videos shot during the debate, one sees an awful lot of scrolling.

Even if she was taking notes, they should have been brief thoughts jotted down. Things she might like to mention when it’s her turn to talk. Not the start to a novel.

Watching Crowley at that debate was a little bit too much like catching a fellow teenager cheating on an Algebra test, notes written up and down her arms in black felt marker. Only this time, we’re not teenagers. We are all as grown up as we are going to get. This is it America. We are the adults. And that one’s still got Cliff’s notes.

While we have no problem with a politician fighting for police and firefighters, we have to wonder – what happens if someone else gets into her ear?

Furthermore, the job Crowley’s applying for is to be a congressional representative. She will represent you, on the United States Congress. You, personally. Is that how we want the rest of America to see Queens?

Crowley caught cheating at debate

From the Daily News:

Congressional contender Elizabeth Crowley seemed overly preoccupied with her cell phone during a recent Queens candidate debate, prompting at least one member of the audience to question whether the Councilwoman was getting answers via the mobile from her staff in the audience.

Crowley can be seen checking her cell phone nearly 20 times during the Kissena Park Civic Association debate last Thursday, according to a video link provide the Daily News and posted on YouTube.

Crowley is busy typing and reading her cell as the other hopefuls for the re-drawn 6th Congressional District in Queens grappled with debate questions.

"At first, I thought she was Googling answers or something, but she kept looking at her people in the audience, so I think she was getting answers and information," said a civic leader who also filmed the debate.

"At the very least, it was amazingly rude, and stupid not to give your full focus to the debate," said the videographer, who has not officially endorsed any candidate but did applaud Assemblyman Rory Lancman's proposed bills tackling community overdevelopment.

"If I saw Lancman do this, I would call him out, or any of the other candidates.," he said. "A congressional seat is too important to have someone seemingly getting fed answers."

Crowley's spokesman said such allegations were absurd, and untrue.

"She was using her phone to take notes on the questions," said spokesman Eric Yun. "Other candidates had pen and paper, but she was taking notes on her phone."

Why would she need to take notes if her communications director/spokesman was in the audience? Wouldn't he be doing that for her?